We are sharing a monthly look at the farm diary of John Foss, written from his dairy farm in Kingston Russell in 1851.
June 1851
June starts “very cold for the season” with storms and strong winds, but soon warms up to be fine and hot. The farm is continuing to focus on churning and potatoes, and John has started producing cheese.
Cross county trips
For most of June, John’s wife Rachel is away from the farm, visiting “the old Mistress” in Bristol, and her home county Monmouthshire. John takes Rachel and his cousin Ann Crofts to Bridport on the 3rd June, “to be ready … to start to morrowing morning for Bristol“.
He writes a letter the next day, but doesn’t receive a reply until Monday 9th:
“Had a letter from Mrs to day wrote it Thursday she arrived safe at Bristol Wednesday found the old Mistress quite well very glad to see her”.
He immediately replied, and they exchange a handful of letters over the month. Whilst he doesn’t explicitly say as much, John clearly missed Rachel. He regularly wrote “no Letter from Mrs this day – I expected one to day”, and “very much disappointed in not having a letter from Mrs”.
On the 24th, John receives a letter that Mrs Foss is on her way home, and the next day he “went to Bridport to meet Mrs & to bring her home”.
Whilst Rachel was away, her niece Mary-Ann Charles visited from Maiden Newton. Mary-Ann was “disappointed in not seeing her aunt” but visits again once Rachel has returned:
“she came about 11 glad to see her aunt & aunt glad to see her staid till 7 oclock”.
Friendly societies
On the 10th, John attended the “Friendly Society Clubb” meeting at Bridehead House, followed by dinner. Friendly societies were local organisations which offered subscribed workers insurance again sickness or injury. It is likely that John was a part of the Litton Cheney Friendly Society, which was established in 1844. The society ran for over 100 years, before it dissolved in 1948 following the establishment of the National Health Service.
A Children’s Feast
On the last day of the month, John and the family attend a tea party, or “childrens feast”, at the Rectory in Longbredy. They have “tea & plum pudding” with all the children, including John nephew “Little Samuel Cleall” from Vearse.
Ever the worker, John goes “to skim the milk” on their return home, “or it will be sour before morning”!
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Interested in learning more about John Foss? Explore the other months of his 1851 from the list below: